High Lateral Resolution Auger Electron Spectroscopic (AES) Measurements for Sn Whiskers on Brass

Bozack, Michael J.; Crandall, Erika R.; Rodekohr, C.L.; Dean, Robert N.; Flowers, George T.; Suhling, Jeff

doi:10.1109/tepm.2010.2048217

Cited by 12 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Former research works reported that Sn whisker growth from thin-films is initiated by the residual stress in the thin layer which can be controlled by the pressure during deposition. Bozack et al [23] found Sn whiskers on 1–5 µm thick, sputtered Sn thin-films on a brass substrate, and they thought that using a relatively low background pressure (1 mTorr), created stress in the thin-film. Chen and Shih [24] studied whisker growth on a 1 µm thick evaporated Sn layer on a Cu laminate at room conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Cu Substrate Roughness and Sn Layer Thickness on Whisker Development from Sn Thin-Films

et al. 2019

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The effect of copper substrate roughness and tin layer thickness were investigated on whisker development in the case of Sn thin-films. Sn was vacuum-evaporated onto both unpolished and mechanically polished Cu substrates with 1 µm and 2 μm average layer thicknesses. The samples were stored in room conditions for 60 days. The considerable stress—developed by the rapid intermetallic layer formation—resulted in intensive whisker formation, even in some days after the layer deposition. The developed whiskers and the layer structure underneath them were investigated with both scanning electron microscopy and ion microscopy. The Sn thin-film deposited onto unpolished Cu substrate produced less but longer whiskers than that deposited onto polished Cu substrate. This phenomenon might be explained by the dependence of IML formation on the surface roughness of substrates. The formation of IML wedges is more likely on rougher Cu substrates than on polished ones. Furthermore, it was found that with the decrease of layer thickness, the development of nodule type whiskers increases due to the easier diffusion of other atoms into the whisker bodies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Cu Substrate Roughness and Sn Layer Thickness on Whisker Development from Sn Thin-Films

et al. 2019

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“…J Biomed Eng Res 2018 | Vol 2: 101 grain size and orientation (i.e., film texture) [19][20][21]; film microstructure [22][23][24][25][26][27]; film composition [24,25,[28][29][30]; film thickness [14,19,20,22,31,32]; and thermal cycling, corrosion, and mechanical deformation [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47] can enhance the formation of stress gradients in the films and contribute to tin whisker growth.…”

Section: Tin Whisker Characteristics and Growth Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk of Tin Whiskers in Medical Devices

2019

Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Research

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The reliability problem of tin whiskers in lead-free electronics has been studied for the past several decades. However, due to tin whiskers have not received sufficient attention and require further study especially because more lead-free products are being implemented in advanced medical equipment such as surgical instruments, medical implants, and life-sustaining devices. In an effort to raise awareness among the medical community about the risks of tin whiskers, this paper presents a brief introduction to tin whiskers, followed by the cases reported to date on whiskers in medical devices. Recommendations for mitigation practices are then presented.

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“…These films are applied by the microelectronics industry as a bonding layer to Cu wires in the case of thermo-sonic wire-bonding technology [18], and as an anode material in lithium-ion batteries [19]. Firstly, Bozack et al [20] and Chen and Shih [21] explained the Sn whisker growth in the case of 1-5 µm thick, vacuum evaporated, and sputtered Sn layers. Their explanation was based on the residual stress in the Sn layer, which might have been caused by a low background pressure (1 mTorr) applied during the layer deposition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kinetics of Sn whisker growth from Sn thin-films on Cu substrate

Illés

Krammer

Hurtony

et al. 2020

J Mater Sci: Mater Electron

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The kinetics of Sn whisker growth was investigated on vacuum-evaporated Sn thin-films. Sn film layers were deposited on a Cu substrate with 0.5 and 1 µm thicknesses. The samples were stored in room conditions (22 ± 1 °C/50 ± 5RH%) for 60 days. The Sn whiskers and the Cu–Sn layer structure underneath them were investigated with both scanning electron and ion microscopy. Fast Cu–Sn intermetallic formation resulted in considerable mechanical stress in the Sn layer, which initiated intensive whisker growth right after the layer deposition. The thinner Sn layer produced twice many whiskers compared to the thicker one. The lengths of the filament-type whiskers were similar, but the growth characteristics differed. The thinner Sn layer performed the highest whisker growth rates during the first 7 days, while the thicker Sn layer increased the growth rate only after 7 days. This phenomenon was explained by the cross-correlation of the stress relaxation ability of Sn layers and the amount of Sn atoms for whisker growth. The very high filament whisker growth rates might be caused by the interface flow mechanism, which could be initiated by the intermetallic layer growth itself. Furthermore, a correlation was found between the type of the whiskers and the morphology of the intermetallic layer underneath.

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High Lateral Resolution Auger Electron Spectroscopic (AES) Measurements for Sn Whiskers on Brass

Cited by 12 publications

References 11 publications

Effect of Cu Substrate Roughness and Sn Layer Thickness on Whisker Development from Sn Thin-Films

Effect of Cu Substrate Roughness and Sn Layer Thickness on Whisker Development from Sn Thin-Films

Risk of Tin Whiskers in Medical Devices

Kinetics of Sn whisker growth from Sn thin-films on Cu substrate

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